By the way, Yale announced that it received 6,020 SCEA apps this year, up 5% from last year (https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/11/14/yale-receives-record-number-of-ea-applications/). I would guess the SCEA admit rate will be somewhat lower than last year’s 14.7% - otherwise, they’d be admitting over half the class early (assuming a 90% yield on SCEA admits). I doubt they want to do that, given the message it would send.
@gibby Those aren’t acceptance rates. Those are the percentages of the enrolled class that has scores in each of those ranges.
I think the actual acceptance rates among applicants in each score range are guessable. Perhaps 4-5% of applicants who score 32-36 are accepted. Scores below that, maybe 1% are accepted. In any case, knowing the actual numbers for a school like Yale would not be helpful. I’m sure there are other schools in the country for which scoring a 32 means 100% acceptance.
Trust me, he knows that even if his wording was unclear.
I found a chart with acceptance rates for the past three years during the EA round
2020 4.662 applied, 795 admitted, 17.05%
2021 5,086 applied, 871 admitted, 17.13% (first year of new residential colleges)
2022 5,733 applied, 842 admitted, 14.69%
It looks a little bit like for class of 2021 they may have over-admitted in the SCEA round to be sure that they filled the new colleges (?), and so they corrected for that last year by admitted slightly less. They also had a big jump in early apps last year. This year they had a smaller jump in the number of early apps. It’ll be interesting to see how the percentages shake out this year.
It’ll also be interesting to see if the increase in early applications represents an overall increase, or if this is just a shift of RD applications to the early round.
@JBStillFlying #12…”demographically hooked”? What does that even mean. As a father of a RA I understand how that can be a hook. I don’t feel being part of a certain demographic can be considered a hook…
It is generally thought that students who have the lowest ACT/SAT scores are recruited athletes in helmet sports (football, ice hockey, lacrosse, etc).
It may be that this is where the Development students fall. These are the ones who, by definition, have had their acceptance “bought” and they are a small part of any class. They do not include children of regular alumni who donate money, including what some would consider large amounts. There have also been quite a few Rhodes Scholars that have come from the athletic ranks, including helmet ones.
@ShanFerg3 a hook can be any characteristic that gives your application an edge. Well-established hooks include RA, development, etc.; those tend to be school-specific with certain deadlines in most cases. Examples of a demographic hook might include talented URM, low SES (other than Questbridge) or first-gen. students. These really apply more broadly and can help make a strong applicant very competitive. A few who we have known were encouraged to keep their options open and make use of the RD as well as the early round. A talented URM or first-gen. applying to all eight Ivies obviously can’t apply to all of them early.
@JBStillFlying I just find this URM thing overblown. I know a AA girl all A’s and high 1500’s SAT from Elite Prep School Horace Mann and she didn’t get into her 1st choice Ivy EA. I just think we say this but I would suspect the % of URM that get admitted compared to applicants would mirror any other unhooked applicant
@ShanFerg3 at #27- You can think that, and you would be incorrect. Our state flagship, as just one example, makes a point of mentioning these inherent characteristics as a factor in an admission decision.
@ShanFerg3 You are absolutely incorrect: being an URM is an enormous hook and advantage in admissions. No-URM do NOT mirror any other unhooked applicant
@ShanFerg3: See post 1 & 3 in this thread: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1961243-being-an-urm-p1.html
@JBStillFlying do you have the statistics to back up the claim of being an URM being such an advantage to be considered a hook? Or, is it heresay?
@Gibby you really think the 2% difference you speak of at Cornell and U Chi is really significant enough to be considered a hook? I don’t. Especially considering it’s probably considered more impressive if an applicant from a lower socioeconomic group applicant and academic accomplishments are on par with someone from a more privileged background. I would think being from a more privileged socioeconomic group would afford more opportunities for obscenely expensive test prep, more elite private prep and public schools, and opportunities for EC. So, is that 2% you speak of really a “hook” I think not. I also would be interested in seeing the stats at HYPCS…Brown and Penn
@Center based on @ Gibby’s post I don’t think the 2% difference can really be considered an “enormous hook” lol. That 2% represents what 1 more admit per applicants at best?
@gibby I also thing the statement “depending on the college” is significant. It’s being said here as if it’s universal and a given amongst all colleges. Based on that statement that would be inaccurate. In the case of Northwestern, sure. In the other examples, no. For this statement regarding URM to be accurate we would have to know which schools this would applicable to and to what extent.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Please move on from discussing race and admissions. There is one thread for that discussion, and this is not it. Feel free to continue the discussion on that thread:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1843141-race-in-college-applications-faq-discussion-12-p1.html.
So, in other hook advantages, have they ever said anything about any difference between a parent legacy and a grandparent legacy hook? That’s my kid’s one hook for admission. I personally think he’s the most outstanding applicant in the universe but I have to, I’m his mother. If I’m trying to be objective I have to admit that he’s average excellent.
What’s the likelihood that my dad’s connection will lift him up out of the maybe pile? Dad was never a big donor so there’s no development office spike. My gut instinct is that it will earn him a courtesy deferment and March denial.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
It has little to do with my “call” and everything to do with following the rules of the forum that everyone agreed to when joining. One throwaway comment is “benign;” several posts parsing the difference of basis points is debate. And as I said, you can discuss it, but the long-standing policy of CC is that such discussion is limited to the one thread as indicated. So to highlight the rules violations here:
and
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@ninakatarina I’m wondering how much legacy matters anymore once you remove the benefactor angle. I’ve heard it both points of view w/r/t the uber-selective schools.
Legacy = your mom or dad attended Yale as an undergraduate. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, step-grandparents attending Yale does not count as a legacy, nor does it count having anyone, including your mom or dad, attend any of Yale’s graduate schools.
Although the Yale supplement asks the applicant to list relatives who attended Yale and the year of their graduation, that is because some people endowed certain things in case any relative gets admitted. Think Anderson Cooper '89 and the Vanderbilt suite.
Also see: https://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/legacy-2/